Ecological correlates of three-dimensional muscle architecture within the dietarily diverse Strepsirrhini.

Analysis of muscle architecture, traditionally conducted via gross dissection, has been used to evaluate adaptive relationships between anatomical form and behavioral function. However, gross dissection cannot preserve three-dimensional relationships between myological structures for analysis. To analyze such data, we employ diffusible, iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (DiceCT) to explore the relationships between feeding ecology and masticatory muscle microanatomy in eight dietarily diverse strepsirrhines: allowing, for the first time, preservation of three-dimensional fascicle orientation and tortuosity across a functional comparative sample.

DiceCT Analysis of the Extreme Gouging Adaptations Within the Masticatory Apparatus of the Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis).

Relative to all other primates, the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) exists at the extremes of both morphology and behavior. Its specialized anatomy-which includes hypselodont incisors and highly derived manual digits-reflects a dietary niche, unique among primates, which combines tap-foraging with gouging to locate and extract wood-boring larvae. Here, we explore the impact of this extreme dietary ecology upon the masticatory musculature of this taxon with reference to a second, similarly sized but highly generalist lemuriform-the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz).